Safflower petal water-extract consumption reduces blood glucose via modulating hepatic gluconeogenesis and gut microbiota

Safflower is a widely utilized food and medicinal herb. The safflower petal is often used for tea-making or food colorant since the water-extract contains a lot of biologically active ingredients. This study aimed to evaluate the impacts of safflower petal water-extract (SE) on blood glucose regulation. The results demonstrated that both long-term and acute consumption of SE ameliorated the blood glucose regulation successfully. Mechanistically, SE suppressed the hepatic gluconeogenesis, which was involved with the protein kinase B (AKT)/forkhead transcription factor 1 (FoxO1) signaling pathway. In addition, SE modulated the gut microbiota that is related to host glucose regulation. Finally, drinking safflower petal-tea could efficiently decrease the healthy participants' blood glucose at two hours after breakfast. Hence, this study proved that drinking safflower petal-tea can be a feasible way to maintain stable blood glucose, and SE can be used as a potential function food ingredient for the prevention and amelioration of hyperglycemia.